Month: March 2018

Sunday, March 11

Vrana Park day two.  We were fortunate that the weather for the entire weekend was forecast to be wonderful.  Like the day before it was bright and sunny and the temperate was going up to 65 degrees.  We wore only light jackets.  Our expectations were that we’d be carrying them before long.

We went to the cab stand near our apartment.  This time the driver seemed to understand where we wanted to go and we sped off in the appropriate direction.  The park is on the outskirts of the city about five miles distant.  We opened the windows and enjoyed the warm, fresh air blowing through our hair.  Ten minutes later we pulled up to a gate and the driver said, “10 leva”.  The only problem was that the gate was closed and the attendant would not let us in.  We couldn’t understand what he was saying.  Finally, he and the cab driver exchanged a few words and the cab driver indicated that we had to walk down the road to get in.  He was DEFINITELY not going to drive us any further.  Google showed that there was another entrance about a mile down the road so off we went, walking by the side of the highway where there were no sidewalks.  We had been right: going by cab had been much easier 😣.

The land for the park was purchased in 1898 by Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria.  The royal family initially built a small lodge on the property.  The palace was completed in 1914.  The family spent most of its time at Vrana and used the palace in the center of Sofia mostly for official functions.  Today Vrana Park is the official residence of Tsar Simeon II and his family.

We were surprised that there was an admission fee for the park.  We knew that there was a charge to tour the palace and just assumed that this was what we paid for.  The park is beautifully landscaped.  The main roads are all lined by mature trees and that must create a lovely canopy of leaves during the summer season.  The grounds include trails, stables, gardens, a lily pond, several foot bridges and a rock garden.  The palace is situated in the center.  We didn’t see the hunting lodge.

(Wildflowers Near the Palace)

We walked all around the palace looking for an entrance.  None were open.  Half of the palace was cordoned off behind a fence and we saw evidence that people were living there.  Their dogs were on duty, ever vigilant, guarding against intruders.

(Guard Dogs)

We had heard that in 2015 that palace had undergone renovations.  It seemed that the work was still ongoing and that tours would not be given until it was complete.  In other words: we didn’t get to see the inside of the palace.

(Vrana Palace)

After we left the park we called for a taxi to come pick us up.  The conversation was a difficult one and we weren’t sure that someone was coming.  I tried to tell them that we wanted to go to Eagle Bridge but they didn’t seem to understand me.  I mentioned a sports stadium that was near the bridge and that seemed to do the trick.  The dispatcher said, “We go there” and then we were disconnected.  We decided to have a gelato and wait to see if a taxi would appear.  Some stray dogs showed interest in our ice cream and we shared pieces of the cone with them.  Just as we finished our dessert we got a text message from the cab company giving us the number of the taxi.  Two minutes later we were on our way.  I asked the driver if he knew Eagle Bridge.  He didn’t.  I typed something into Google translate and said, “Orel Most”.  That worked.  For once we actually arrived at our chosen destination.  I gave him a nice tip.

After running a few errands we went home to eat some of the treats we purchased at the Chocolate Festival.  It was time to try the “Pismaniye”.  This is a sweet Turkish candy made from sesame.  They call it “Floss Halva”.  Basically it’s sesame paste spun into cotton candy.  It’s unusual and very tasty.  It’s also very messy to eat.  Our box contained chocolate,  pistachio and plain.  Pismaniye literally means cotton candy in Turkish.

(Pismaniye)

Distance walked: 4.6 miles

Friday, March 8

Today we visited the Earth and Man Museum.  That’s a fancy way of saying that we went somewhere where they display a lot of rocks.  The Museum is situated adjacent to a large park with panoramic views of the mountains.  Also adjoining the park is the Museum of Modern Art where we saw a large number of sculptures surrounding the building.  I took the opportunity to photograph the mountains and some of the sculptures.

(Park Near Earth and Man Museum)

The Earth and Man Museum is housed in a repurposed building.  It has two floors and high ceilings.  It looks like it might have been a warehouse at one time.  The main entryway leads into a great hall with a display of giant crystals.  There are only two museums in the world that have a display of giant crystals and, fortunately for us, one of them is in Sofia 😉.

(Deborah and Giant Crystals on Display)

The museum was very nice and exactly as expected.  They had a very comprehensive selection and even two very small meteorites.  There was an extensive collection of agates from different places in Bugaria.  The second floor contained exhibits showing how many of the raw material had industrial/commercial uses.  Deborah really enjoyed the displays containing precious stones; they’ll be cleaning up her drool for weeks.

It was obvious that the displays had been curated by different people at different times.  About half of the displays contained descriptions of the rocks in Bulgarian and English along with their chemical compounds.  The other half of the displays showed the name and origin of the rocks, but these were only written in Bulgarian.  I guess only geeks like us would have noticed.

We stopped at a nearby shopping mall for lunch.  We found some interesting choices in the food court.  We shared a sesame covered chicken breast, some roasted potatoes and a yogurt based salad containing crunchy vegetables.  Sorry, the need to eat was stronger than the need to photograph our food.

Afterwards we went back to the Central Hali Market.  Deborah wanted to stock up on some cheap drug store items.  Before heading home we finally went back to St Sofia Church.  We had been there on our first day in Town but hadn’t really gotten a good look because a wedding was about to take place.  The inside was on the small side and was sparsely decorated.  We took a few pictures and left.

(Icon in St Sofia Church)

Distance walked: 9.1 miles

Saturday, March 9

We had a full day planned.  We expected to visit Vrana Palace and the Grand Chocolate Festival.  Both were generally in the same part of Town, but were quite a distance.  Neither was an easy walk.  The Palace is only open on weekends and the Chocolate Festival was running only this weekend.

The website for the palace says that the best way to get to get there is to take the 505 bus.  Luckily there was a stop near our apartment.  This time the ticket booth was open and we purchased two tickets.  There was a sign nearby that said that the 505 bus stopped there.  So far, so good.

We noticed an electric sign nearby showing the various buses and the associated wait times.  The 505 bus was not listed.  20 minutes later there was still no sign of the 505 bus.  With a little creative googling we found that the 5 bus, which also left from this stop, appeared to go to the palace.  Two minutes later a 5 bus arrived and we were on our way.

We put our tickets into a little machine that was supposed to stamp them with our time of entry.  It didn’t seem to work.  We just put the tickets in our pockets and found some seats.  Later, an official ticket checker boarded the bus and asked to see everyone’s tickets.  She had something to say about our tickets but we’ll never know what it was because it was in Bulgarian.  We tried to respond in English but only got a exasperated look and a heavy sigh in response.  Frustrated she ripped our tickets in half and walked off the bus.  Later we saw someone else use the machine.  You have to insert your ticket and then pull a lever to get the stamp.  I think we’ll stick to the subways from now on.

The 5 bus, a trolley bus, lumbered down the street at a pace that would insure its tires would last until the next century.  Soon, however, it turned off the main road and started wending its way through some local streets.  We started to get concerned.  Later the bus stopped and everyone got off.  The driver told us that it was the end of the line.  We were stranded in the middle of nowhere.  We walked back to the main road and searched for a taxi stand.  No luck.  We realized that the Chocolate Festival was about 1.5 miles away so we walked.  Along the way we decided that we would just go to the Chocolate Festival today and would come up with a better plan for visiting the palace tomorrow.  Taxis, no doubt, would be involved.

We see this sign almost every day in the center of Town.  After our unfortunate experiences with the busses we’ve decided to take it to heart: Keep Walking!

(Our New Motto)

We paid about $6.50 for two tickets and entered the building.  It was a typical convention center.  There were a place for children to play in the lobby and two large rooms with displays.  We walked the entire exhibit a few times.  The first time through we checked out each booth’s offerings and ate as many free samples as possible.  The second time through we meant business.

We decided to eat something food-like before indulging.  One booth was selling their own take on banitsa.  Instead of phyllo dough these were made from whole grain flour.  They also had exotic fillings which included things like sun-dried tomatoes and leaks.  We also bought a couple of interesting looking cookies for later consumption.

After lunch we went back to our favorite booths and bought a few items.  In the end we walked away with three bars of white chocolate with salted almonds and cranberries, one bar of dark chocolate with Bulgarian Rose Oil, a “sheet” of milk chocolate, a box of Hazelnut and Pomegranate Turkish Delight and a box of Pismaniye (Turkish Floss Halva).  It looks like we’re about to put back all of the weight we lost.

As if that wasn’t enough we had to have dessert before we left – Belgian Waffle Sticks covered in powdered sugar and chocolate sauce.  One of the girls from the booth heard us speaking English and told us that she will be moving to Cape Cod to start a new job.  She heard that housing was expensive there and wanted to know if we knew someone she could stay with.  Sadly, we weren’t able to help.

(Our Friend from the Belgian Waffle Stand)

We took the subway home.

Distance walked: 9.1 miles

Tuesday, March 6

Today we went back to the post office to mail another letter.  I guess we’re just gluttons for punishment.  Once again we were mailing a one-page letter to the United States; we were even using the same sized envelope.  This time the cost of a stamp was more than double was we had previously paid.  Has anyone checked the cost of inflation lately?

Since we’re leaving Sofia soon we’ve been googling things to do in the area to make sure we don’t miss anything interesting.  We found some information on a market that sounded like it would be fun to visit.  It’s in a building that we’ve walked past many times.  We had even remarked that it looked like a train station that was no longer in use and figured it was some sort of municipal building.  The Cyrillic alphabet keeps coming back to bite us.  Occasionally we make a herculean effort and decipher some of the writings.  Sometimes the words are familiar and easily understood.  Most times we have no idea of what they mean.  It’s been a little frustrating.  Google translate, which was very helpful for Italian and Latin,  does not have the best support for Bulgarian.

The inside of the building also looks like an old train station.  It is a large open hall with a high arched ceiling extending over two stories.  The market is on three floors.  The bottom floor is very small and contains just a few shops.  The top floor is dominated by a large drug store.  Drug stores in this country are very similar to drug stores back in the U.S. but they never contain pharmacies.  Pharmacies are always dedicated stores on their own.  The center of the market was filled with cafes serving sandwiches, coffee and pastries.  The shops were all around the perimeter.  There were a few jewelry stores and even a pharmacy but most of the shops were food related.  The smell was enticing.

There were, of course, the usual shops selling banitsa, pizza and pastries but there were also a large number of shops selling prepared foods.  Many people were grocery shopping.  Some, like us, came to sit and eat lunch.  We circled the entire building trying to decide what would be on the menu today.  Finally we settled on a place near the entrance where there was a long line and all sorts of meats, fish and pastas that were being prepared right in front of our eyes.  Deborah had stewed chicken with onions in a tomato based broth and I had cabbage leaves stuffed with meat in a rather watery light colored sauce.  We also tried some fried, sesame covered boneless chicken; it was amazing.  We washed it all down with a bottle of Coke.  We usually drink water but we hadn’t had a soda since leaving Italy.  Coke seemed the perfect compliment to our lunch.

We had intended to do some other things but we were still a little leg weary after our 14+ mile jaunt the previous day so we decided to head home.

Distance walked: 5.7 miles

Wednesday, March 7

For the first time since we started our trip we embarked on a guided tour.  Nestled high up in the Vitosha Mountains  (VIT-o-sha) our destination was the Rila Monastery (RYE-la).  It is located about 60 miles from Town and it is only accessible by car.  The tour also included a visit to the Boyana Church, where we had been on Monday.  Since we had only been allowed ten minutes inside the church we were happy to see it again.

We left the apartment around 8:00 am.  This was rather early for us these days; we normally don’t get out until close to 11.  We tried to get coffee at our favorite cafe, The Owlee, but it did not open until 8:30 so we indulged at a nearby shop selling coffee and pastries.  The coffee was not nearly as good.  Afterwards we wended our way toward the Alexander Nevski Cathedral where we were to meet our group.  While we waited I took advantage of the clear skies and took pictures of the snow covered mountain ranges to the West.  The temperature was supposed to be in the 60s that day but we expected it to be colder in the mountains.  Six people had signed up for this tour.  We all piled into a small minivan, along with our driver/tour guide, and we were on our way.

On our way to the Church we experienced something we hadn’t seen in quite some time: traffic.  It was about 9:00 am and the small streets in the center of Town were clogged with cars.  The driver apologized profusely.  He had obviously never seen traffic in a large city in the U.S.  The stop-and-go only lasted five minutes and then we were on a major artery.  This time we were happy to let the car climb the mountain for us.

After our ten minutes at Boyana we were off to see the Monastery.  Rila is the oldest and largest Monastery in Bulgaria.  It was originally constructed in the 10th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Sometime during the 19th century the Ottomans burned the place down.  Later that century it was rebuilt in its previous image.  Rila is situated high up in the mountains at an elevation of about 4,000 feet.  Like many Monasteries you don’t simply visit – you need to make a pilgrimage.  Because of the small, narrow, winding roads it took us almost two hours to cover 60 miles.

Outside the city limits the scenery is dominated by the mountains, whose peaks were still covered by snow.  We also saw large farms waiting for the Spring to replant and we saw shepherds tending goats and sheep.

(The Countryside)

Up at the Monastery the temperature was about 40 degrees and there was a cold wind.  We saw snow covered mountains all around us.  The site was surrounded by a high wall and there was a defensive tower.  It’s hard to imagine that anyone would bother attacking a site that was so isolated.  Our guide walked us about the place and explained the purpose of the various buildings.  At one time the monastery had housed over 150 monks.  Today there are only eight in residence.  We were cautioned not to take selfies with the monks.  Apparently they really hate that!  Just behind the Monastery, outside the opposite gate, there was a restaurant and a bakery.  The tour company had cautioned us that the food choices were rather limited and that service was fantastically slow.  They advised that it would be best if we brought our own lunch.  We did.

(The Main Entrance)

After the abbreviated tour it was time for lunch.  The bakery is well known for a typical Bulgarian breakfast food called Mekitsa.  Its fried dough covered in powdered sugar.  He had to try it.  Some local dogs and cats, probably strays, appeared as we were eating.  We couldn’t resist sharing.

The monastery grounds are dominated by the main church.  It sits right in the center and is the largest building.  Other buildings had been constructed all around the perimeter.  They housed the museum, the monks’ chambers, the library, a gift store, a post office and the kitchens.  Several of the rooms were available for rent.  The had two classes of rooms: nicely decorated with hotel like services and spartan rooms with no services, just like the monks would experience.

(Main Church and Defensive Tower)

The main church was very large.  The first thing you noticed was an enormous chandelier suspended from the main dome.  Every inch of the walls were covered in frescos.  The main alter was typical.  It was a wall covered in gilded icons.  No photography was permitted.  We also visited the museum.  Inside we found many artifacts from the monastery dating back to the 14th century.  There was an interesting collection of metal crosses that dated near the time of Christ.  They also had a wooden cross on display containing over 600 miniature figures and highly intricate scenes.  It had taken one of the monks 14 years to create.

Next to the main church there was a large defensive tower.  It was tall, had slits for windows and was topped by crenelated roof.  We did not walk up the tower because, due to snow and ice, the roof was closed.

(Fresco on Exterior of Church)

Of course there was the obligatory trip to the gift shop.  Deborah found some pretty stamps and we bought one for our collection.  It looks like we’re going to have multiple stamps from each city.  I’m not too concerned.

Distance walked: 4.5 miles

Monday, March 5

We were heading about 3.5 miles away, toward the Vitosha Mountain Range, to see the National History Museum.  We decided to take public transportation.  The first problem was to decide on which conveyance.  The public options include subways, trams, buses, trolley buses and taxi transit services.  Of course that doesn’t include regular taxis or just plain walking.  It can be a little confusing.  We decided to try one of the trolley busses.

Today was the observance of Bulargian Independence Day so we were glad to see that the buses were running.  We found the stop we wanted near the apartment but couldn’t find a place to buy tickets; they were all closed.  Single rider tickets cannot be purchased in advance – they must be used within 30 minutes of purchase or they expire.  That’s not very convenient.  Most Bulgarians seem to have monthly passes that can be purchased at a discount.  What to do next: should we walk or just take a taxi?  We opted for a taxi.  Nothing’s ever easy…

The taxi driver didn’t speak a word of English.  I pulled out my iPhone, brought up Google maps and highlighted the museum.  No reaction.  I had the app draw the route between our location and the museum.  He reluctantly took my phone and started to drive.  He was looking at the screen the entire time.  He still had no idea where we wanted to go.  After two minutes he stopped the car with an exasperated look.  This time I indicated a famous landmark near the museum called the Boyana Church.  I thought that this might work better because the name on the map was written in Bulgarian.  Finally a light of recognition.  He handed me back my phone and we were off.  We watched carefully as we drove through the city.  He missed the turn to the museum and was taking us to the church instead.  We suspected that this might happen.  Using hand gestures and very primitive Bulgarian we somehow directed him to the museum.  We got a nice little tour of the city and the cost of the cab ride, even with the detour, was only about $5.

The museum is situated perfectly in a park-like area just in front of the mountain range.  It was a magnificent setting.  We bought our tickets at the booth near the entrance and walked up a long and elegant drive.  The total cost for the tickets was 20 leva, which is rather pricey for Bulgaria (about $6.50 for each of us).

The inside of the museum is impressive.  It has high ceilings and large open rooms.  The entrance way looks like the perfect place for Royal/diplomatic receptions.  The entire South wall was made of glass and had magnificent views of the mountains.  Out back was a beautifully landscaped park with access to hiking trails, picnic areas and children’s playgrounds.

(Stairs Leading to Second Floor Entry)

The displays within the museum resembled much of what we had already seen in the archeological museum.  They had an impressive collection of Thracian artifacts from the 6th century BC.  Many of the items were made of gold and were in fantastic condition.  Most had been in ancient burial mounds which had been undisturbed for well over two thousand years.

(Bronze Thracian Helmet from the 6th Century BC)

The real highlight of the museum was the building itself.  During the communist period after World War II the building was built to house the Bulgarian Communist dictator.  The museum, which had been established in 1973 was moved to this location in 2000.  The last communist dictator was removed from power on November 10, 1989.

(Fresco of the Last Judgement 17th Century)

After the museum we went in search of a leisurely lunch.  Unknown to the cab driver we had intended to see the Boyana Church after all.  On Mondays entrance to the church is free after 3:30 pm so we had about three hours to kill.  The hike to the church was about two miles, which we figured should take less than 45 minutes.

We were fortunate to find a nice little restaurant that was open near the main highway.  We shared a pepperoni pizza.  Afterward we had cappuccinos and split a chocolate soufflé (translation: Deborah had dessert and I was allowed a taste). It turned out to be a very leisurely lunch because we left the restaurant an hour and half later.

The walk to the church took a little longer than we planned.  The first mile or so was mostly up a small but consistent grade.  For most of the second mile, however, we were climbing a mountain.  The roads turned to cobblestone and became very steep and narrow.  He stopped to suck wind a couple of times but made it with plenty of time to spare.

The original part of the church dates from the 10th century and was originally covered in frescos.  The church was enlarged with a second room in the 13th century and in 1259 the second room was covered in frescos.  In the 19th century a third room was added.  The site was an active church until the 1950s.  This site is considered to be one of the most complete and perfectly preserved monuments of east European medieval art.  In 1994 the church and its grounds were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The UNESCO website has pictures of the interior.

The temperature and humidity of the interior are carefully controlled to help minimize damage to the frescos.  People are allowed to enter in groups of eight and are permitted to stay for no more than ten minutes.  No photography of any kind is allowed.

(Boyana Church)

The grounds are nicely wooded and entry is through a very pretty little gate.  A large tree is visible when you first enter.  In front of the tree is a plaque stating that King Ferdinand planted it, a giant redwood, in 1908.  At just over 100 years old that makes that tree an infant as redwoods can live for well over 2,000 years.

For the trip home we decided to hoof it.  The distance was about 4.5 miles but we were feeling great, even after our climb.  We got home around 7:00 pm.  My iPhone obviously counted climbing the mountain the same as if we had climbed stairs.  It recorded that we walked 44 flights.  It felt like more.

Distance walked: 14.3 miles.  That’s a new record!  We beat our old record by 2.2 miles.

Wednesday, February 28

Boy, February really flew by.  I know it’s a short month but it’s hard to believe we’ve been in Sofia for more than four weeks now.  It’s almost time to pack again.  It’s hard to make attachments when you live a nomadic life.

The day before we had some significant snow.  In spite of the many doom and gloom weather forecasts this is the first time we had any accumulation.  In spite of the fact that we don’t have winter clothes we decided to brave the elements and go out.  It’s easy to wear layers but our lack of winter footwear was telling. The streets were slushy and our feet got pretty wet.

Today we went to the National Museum of Military History.  It is free on the last Wednesday of each month and you know how we can’t pass up a bargain.  At first we actually walked past the museum in search of a post office.  We had to mail another letter to the States and needed a stamp.  This time a stamp for a first class letter to the United States was about ten cents higher than our previous attempt.  It’s hard to care about the difference in price but it makes us wonder where these letters are actually going or if they will ever get to their  intended destination.  We have to send another letter this week.  Who knows what that one will cost.

Upon entering the grounds to the National Museum of Military History you can see a bunch of airplanes, tanks, artillery pieces, etc., laid out along paths surrounding a central building.  The museum consists of two floors of static displays containing descriptions and artifacts of Bulgarian conflicts starting in the time of the Thracian Empire around 600 BC.

The first display contained a bronze helmet of a Thracian Warrior from around 600 BC.  It was in fantastic condition and glowed with a deep golden color from the reflected lights in the display.  I would love to have shared a picture of it but no photography was permitted.  All along the walls we found descriptions of the society of that era along with narratives of the significant battles that they participated in.

Starting with the late 18th century the displays and narratives became a lot more detailed.  We learned a lot regarding several uprisings during the time of the Ottoman rule and saw many different types of swords including curved Turkish scimitars.  It seemed to us that the Bulgarians had been almost constantly at war throughout the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th centuries.

(Scud Missiles with Launch Vehicle)

On the way home we stopped by a local cafe for coffee and cake.  We’ve taken out pastries from this place before and they have the absolutely best baklava you’ve ever tasted.  Today we tried a chocolate layer cake.  It was ok.  The coffee was, in a word, undrinkable.  They serve an Italian brand named Lazzarin.  We’ve never heard of it before.  We’re not sure whether it was the coffee or the preparation but I declined to drink it.  Deborah drank hers and mine; she says she can’t waste coffee.  The caffeine kept her awake for quite a while.

For dinner we had some prepared items from our local grocery store.  The first item, banitsa, is a Bulgarian standard.  It’s basically phyllo dough stuff with just about anything you can imagine.  Ours had cheese and spinach.  The other item on the menu was mystery meat.  We weren’t quite sure what it was but we decided to try it.  It turned out to be some sort of chicken stew.

(Dinner was Banitsa and Mystery Meat)

Distance walked: 5.1 miles

Thursday, March 1

Our goal for the day was to try to find an interesting place for lunch.  We decided to try to locate a cafe we had visited once before.  On our previous visit we only had coffee (and had avoided the vegan pastries) but this time we intended to try the food.  The place had been packed so we figured that it must be good.  The problem was that we didn’t remember the name or the exact location.  All we knew was that it was on some back street near one of the main shopping areas.  Armed only with our rapidly aging memories we set out to find this cafe once more.

Apparently our memories have not degraded too badly because we found the restaurant pretty quickly.  This time the place was empty.  The last time we were there it had been on a beautifully sunny weekend day.  Now it was late Thursday afternoon and the streets were rather slushy.  Tell me again why we wanted to venture out?

The menu was tiny.  There were only six items and one of them was a drink of some kind.  All of the items were vegetarian.  Deborah ordered a dish of stew with seasoned, sliced potatoes, carrots and peas (and she ate all of the peas) topped with pickled cabbage.  I had a rather exotic salad fruits, vegetables and rice noodles with a ginger based vinaigrette.  Indian influences were obvious in both dishes.  They were both excellent.  Afterwards we had cake and cappuccinos.  It turns out that some of the pastries were not vegan after all; they were good but nothing to write home about.  The total cost was just over $18, which is a lot more than we normally spend on lunch (anyone with dietary restrictions would love this place as they have vegan and gluten free options).

(Deborah’s Stew)

(Marc ate grass clippings)

On the way home we once again stopped at our favorite nut place.  Deborah has gotten addicted to their dried apples which are covered in cinnamon and sugar.  You have to try them.

Distance walked: 4.5 miles

Saturday, March 3

We had seen signs for an outlet mall and today was the day we were going to see it for ourselves.  The walking distance was only about 3.5 miles each way but considering that the streets were still rather slushy we opted to take the subway.  I’d taken the subway several times before when I went to play tennis but for Deborah this was going to be a new experience.  The subway stations and cars are new and clean.  There’s no trash or graffiti anywhere.

As soon as we stepped into the subway car Deborah noticed a sign for a Chocolate Festival that was scheduled for March 10 and 11.  Guess where we’ll be on at least one of those days.  The subway let us off in a part of Town we hadn’t previously seen.  There was a large, modern looking expo center (where the Chocolate Festival was to be staged) and several other modern buildings that seemed to be office spaces.  The outlet mall was a five minute walk from the station.  Along the way we saw a huge electronics store (their version of Best Buy) and a large building with a sign that said METRO.  At first we thought it might be a train station but in the end we decided was something akin to a BJ’s or Sam’s Club.

The mall itself was modern and bright.  There were three floors and about a third of the stops were outlet/discount stores.  It looked just like any outlet mall you might see in the States.  Many of the stores were closed as it was Bulgarian Independence day – a celebration of the day they were liberated from Ottoman rule in 1878.  Monday is the official celebration when people have the day off from work.  We walked out of the outlet mall with a bottle of Bulgarian wine that had been recommended by one of the clerks in the liquor store.  It was reputed to be a full-bodied red.  At almost $20 it was one of the more expensive local wines so we were hoping to avoid a headache.

We had intended to have lunch at the mall but there were few choices and the only store that was open was a Subway franchise.  We decided to head back to the city to see what we could find there.  In the end we went back to that little hole-in-the-wall Turkish restaurant that we had liked.  We ordered a plate of white rice and something that looked interesting; we had no idea of what it was but it seemed to resemble some sort of baked cheese.

The last time we were there the rice was covered in Sumac.  This time it was still seasoned but there was no Sumac.  We covered it in an exotic seasoning that was sitting on all of the tables.  It was wonderful.  Mostly likely it had paprika and red pepper in it but there were a lot more flavors that we couldn’t identify.

The ‘baked cheese’ turned out to be a famous Turkish dessert called Kazandibi.  It’s actually a milk pudding coated with caramelized sugar.  For some reason the English call it Clink.  The closest approximation to it would be Italian panna cotta.  It was sweet and flavorful.  We’ll definitely be back for another.

(Kazandibi – It Pays to Try New Things)

We tried that wine with dinner this evening.  It was very good.  It reminded us somewhat of a Burgundy and had a nice finish.  We drank the entire bottle and then took a nap.  We woke up the next morning without a headache!

Distance walked: 6.4 miles